Podcast

Business systems are extremely important, they protect you in times of need and provide options if you ever want to make a change in your personal life.

Show Notes:

In 2008 Jamie had an entrepreneurial moment where he decided to start his own business.

Jamie had a dream to work with teams and one day to develop that into being a keynote speaker and maybe even an author.

Within a few months, by June 2009, Jamie was completely out of money.

Jamie remembers thinking, “What are we going to do?”

Jamie then did whatever great entrepreneur does, when the first business doesn’t work, you start the second one.

This second business was as far away from Jamie’s dream as you can imagine.

It was a contracting business that specialized in exterior building cleaning which really translates into cleaning people’s gutters and washing their windows and washing the siding of buildings and being dirty and brutally physically demanding work.

By February 2010, Jamie hit a burnout stage running the two businesses.

Jamie felt like he needed to make a change, it was almost a year to the date of starting the consulting business.

Jamie had a contracting business that was growing without any attention being paid to it at all and had a consulting business that although it was his dream, it wasn’t working.

Jamie closed his consulting business and focused all his attention on his contracting business.

Jamie hired two construction workers who had been laid off in the great recession to work for him in the contracting business.

Jamie focused on the product that his contracting business would deliver to customers.

He created operating systems for his employees so that they did the job the way he would do the job.

On October 15th, 2010, Jamie had a workplace accident where he fell twenty-feet and almost died from his injuries.

Jamie couldn’t work for six months but because he had focused on building operational systems, the business continued to operate.

While recovering Jamie and his wife continued to build and systemize their contracting business.

The result was that Jamie was able to eventually move to be with family, over a 1000 kms away and the business continued to operate profitably.

This podcast interview was originally aired on Unshackled Owner and aired on July 25, 2017.

If you are interested in an 8-week intensive I recommend Aaron Scott Young and the Unshackled Owner.

I use Process Street to create systems in my business and I highly recommend that you use Process Street as well.

If you enjoyed this interview, then you will love my new book The Blueprint of a Great Business! This book is for self-employed people with service-based businesses that want to provide for their families and create freedom and flexibility in their lives.